As Mario Draghi Departs, the E.C.B. Is Divided Over His Policies

The dissenters appear to be taking advantage of the leadership transition to stake out their views before Ms. Lagarde has had a chance to establish her authority.

Ms. Lagarde, a former managing director of the International Monetary Fund, can handle the pressure, Mr. Draghi said.

“I have no advice for Christine. She knows better than anyone else what to do and what to say,” he said.

Ms. Lagarde will soon acquire a potential ally in this debate. The German government on Tuesday nominated Isabel Schnabel, a member of the German Council of Economic Experts, to a vacancy on the central bank’s Executive Board. If confirmed, Ms. Schnabel will replace Sabine Lautenschläger on the six-person board, which is part of the Governing Council and manages the operations of the central bank.

Ms. Lautenschläger resigned last month. She did not give a reason, but is widely assumed to have been unhappy with the central bank’s course. She was also the only woman on the 25-person Governing Council, a gender imbalance that was a focus of a conference at the bank’s headquarters on Tuesday. Ms. Schnabel’s appointment, and the arrival of Ms. Lagarde, bring that number to two.

In contrast to much of the German economics establishment, Ms. Schnabel, a professor of economics at the University of Bonn, is regarded as a supporter of the policies pursued under Mr. Draghi.

The decision last month to increase stimulus was a response to signs of an economic slowdown caused by the trade war between the United States and China, anxiety over Brexit and conflict in the Middle East.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/24/business/mario-draghi-ecb.html?emc=rss&partner=rss